“What did he promise you, Art?” I asked, forcing the words out despite the mind-numbing waves of pain that rolled through me as my mortal body began to die.
Art tried to ignore me, but a muscle in his jaw pulsed, and I knew he was hanging by a thread.
“Whatever it was, I hope it was worth betraying your family for.”
That got his attention. He finally looked at me, anger flashing in his ice-cold blue eyes.
“Myfamily?”he snarled. “My family is Shemhazai, and ever since you’ve returned, he hasn’t evenlookedin my direction.”
I raised an eyebrow, trying to play it cool despite how much pain I was in. “You betrayed your people because you haven’t been gettingfuckedthe way you think you deserve?”
Art snarled as he stepped on the dais and dumped me at the base of the empty cross. I could feel the burn of a hundred thousand angel eyes searing into my flesh as I stared up at the demon who had betrayed me.
“I didn’t betray anyone but you, Lilith. When you and Ramel are finally gone, Yahweh will name me King of Hell. I will wield the scythe, and Shemhazai will beforced to see me for what I’ve always been. Heloves me.He just can’t see it with you and Ramel constantly getting in my fucking way.”
I snorted, remembering the way Shem had fondly stroked the grave of Hecate in the cemetery of the gods. I remembered how he had put Gabriel on his knees at the feast and claimed him with nothing more than a few simple commands.
“What about Gabriel? What about Hecate? Shemhazai will never be interested inonlyfucking you, Arteqoph. You’re living in a delusion.”
Arteqoph’s lip curled in anger. “Gabriel’s days are numbered, and as for Hecate, how do you think she ended up in that fucking grave to begin with, Lilith?”
I narrowed my eyes at him. This wasn’t the first time he had aligned with Yahweh. I couldn’t believe how grossly misplaced our trust had been.
I cringed as another wave of pain rolled through me. Rafael came up to stand next to Art, sneering down at me.
“It’s midnight. She’s going to die, and when she’s reborn, I’m going to fuck the snark out of her before we string her up.”
Art glared at Rafael. “Yahweh will not like that. He wants her on the cross the minute she turns. We can’t afford to risk Ramel and Shem getting to her before the procedure is complete.
Rafael scoffed. “There’s a hundred thousand angels between us and them. I would like to see them try to get to her. Ramel will be dead by morning, and we’ll deliver Shem to you bound and gagged, just the way you asked.”
“It would be foolish to underestimate them, Rafael,” Art said, and the other Lilith nearly laughed out loud.
Foolish indeed.
Rafael grabbed Art by the shirt and pressed his face so close to his that their noses nearly touched.
“They made me cut my own fuckingdick off.I will be fucking their little bride until she bleeds on my shiny new cock, then I will crucify her on this cross with God’s angels as witness. If you have a fucking problem with it, I will unmake you too.”
Those were the last words I heard before I died.
“The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injustice.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, GLADIATOR
Iexploded into the bedroom to find Jezebel dead and Lilith gone. Fury roared through me as I realized I had once again failed my wife. I examined the arrows that protruded from Jezebel’s chest. They were made of the same gold as the scepters. This was not good.
Hell’s bells chimed, signaling that it was officially midnight. Lilith would be ascending, and the veil would no longer be pliable, which meant if I was going after her, I was going to need to storm Heaven’s gates.
‘They have Lilith,’I barked into Shem’s mind. He was still in the great hall, fighting the last of the angels with Gabriel.
I was moving again, hopping from shadow to shadow in my Reaper form.
‘I’m going after her,’I snarled.
‘Wait for us, you can’t go alone.’
‘There’s no time. Meet me there, I’ll clear the way.’
